Isabelle was almost 13 when her L rear leg was amputated in August. She has severe L-S spine arthritis, but nothing has slowed her down. She too, had not been using her leg (because of arthritis), which turned out to be an advantage. The diminished muscle mass & resulting decreased blood flow, made her amputation easier. She was in excellent condition otherwise, lean, & had already been in rehab for 8 mos & returned in less than 2 weeks.  The only slightly bad days she's had since surgery are related to her arthritis & would likely have occurred anyway. She can still run as fast as her young friends! Surprisingly, at her age, she had a better than average recovery, with none of the usual setbacks….so, you never know. These senior dogs have a quiet wisdom & tolerance that can't be underestimated.

Best of Luck

Cynthia & Isabelle

while Cooper is not 12.5 – he did just turn 10 this month. Besides being a senior dog, he is a large boy at 117 pounds. He was not given a good rating as a candidate for an amputation , but everything in his eyes and attitude said he was not ready to leave us yet, and pain management was a bad answer it seemed to us. Eventually his leg would probably break anyway, so we opted for amputation. Today he celebrates his 3rd month ampuversary and despite everything the vets said, Cooper has recovered well and gets around all by himself and goes up and down the stairs on his own. In the last month or so we have not used any of his harnesses even. There are many other older dogs on the forum that have also done well. I hope this helps… good luck and keep us posted!

Coopsdad

Cooper was a front leg amp , so the straps were going to cross where his incision was. My vet said to put a towel in between and use it right away, but 2 weeks in Coopers upper leg bone wore a hole thru the incision and developed infection and he had to have a second surgery, so I only used a rear harness. He got his second set of stitches out 4 weeks after his first surgery and the incision site looked good so I began using the Ruffwear Harness immediately and he did fine with it. The Ruffwear is awesome and takes so much weight! We  are praying for a safe surgery and quick recovery for Bailey. Prepare yourself for the recovery period of at least 2 weeks. It can be tiring and difficult, but the dogs are so resilient! You may ask your self a time or two if you did the right thing, but dont fear, you will know sooner than later that you did the right thing. Please feel free to come here as often as you need for advice – I wore everyone out on the site the first 3 weeks, and everyone was so helpful and encouraging. I would not have made it through without Tripawds! Good luck!

Cooper and Coopsdad

Thanks.  Yes. I did order from Ruff Wear directly – I didn't realize that this site sold anything but will certainly shop here in the future.  I think I'll create a blog to provide updates on Bailey.  Thanks for all your help and support!